Cirencester’s ex-Woolworths: a window on the rise of discounters

I often talk about how the fate of ex-Woolworths stores provides a fascinating ‘window’ on the changing high street, and the ex-Woolies in Cirencester (store #394) – which opened on 26 April 1930, 82 years ago today – is no exception.

Looking at the new occupants of former Woolworths gives us a flavour of the retail market dynamic in particular towns, as well as a snapshot of many of the retailers that are expanding and doing well in the current economic climate.

Both businesses’ recent rise is remarkable. In 2008 – the year that Woolworths went bust – Mountain Warehouse had just 39 stores and Poundland 167. Today, they have 147 and over 350 stores respectively, meaning that the two chains have added 300 shops between them in four years – quite an achievement at a time when the high street is so often reported (wrongly, I would argue) to be on its last legs. As with other expanding discounters that I’ve often written about before – such as Store Twenty One and B&M – good-quality but affordable space freed up by Woolies’ demise seems to have been a significant driver of this growth.

The building, meanwhile, looks exactly like a 1930s Woolworths – with all the familiar architectural features that regular readers will recognise by now – though its odd lack of symmetry is, I believe, the result of a 1950s extension in the same style. From an aesthetic point of view, however, it’s perhaps a pity that the building couldn’t have been subdivided in a way that paid more heed to the symmetry of the original five-bay section.

Cirencester shops (13 Nov 2011)

Still, that’s a minor quibble, and the important thing is that the large ex-Woolies site has been brought back into active use. Given that Cirencester is not only the gateway to the Cotswolds but is also packed with character, delightful independent shops, and a quirkily higgledy piggledy House of Fraser, it’s little wonder that two of the UK’s fastest-growing chains were keen for a piece of the action.

6 Responses

No sign of Next moving back to Cirencester yet Graham.
Though an Apple shop (in the form of Western Computers) has opened in the premises vacated by GAME and Joules has opened in the Market Place – so things could be on the up?

Empty retail units continue to be occupied quite quickly in Cirencester, which is encouraging, but it remains to be seen whether the shops moving in are what the shoppers of Cirencester want and need.
But there are units which remain empty such as those vacated by Clinton Cards, Blacks and Thorntons.

The Cirencester Shopping website (http://www.cirencestershopping.co.uk) keeps people up-to-date with the changing face of retail in Cirencester and independent shops such as M.A.D.E., Jungle and R Scott have grasped the opportunity to promote their shops through one central website, but many businesses and shoppers continue to complain that parking charges are causing people to think twice about visiting the town centre.

The Cirencester store had a further extension to the rear, and a yard/garden centre, which were demolished as part of the subdivision work. A fee has been agreed prior to autumn 2008 for the return of these parts to the landlord, who also own the King’s Head hotel, which is still undergoing renovation. We took alot of money from gardening products, even when the buyers decided not to range things like spades and fertiliser.

Prior to Poundland, it had been announced that M & Co would take over the larger unit, and they had even submitted extensive renovation plans, including a second sales floor, but I’ve never found out why, or when that fell through.

Since you visited, Clintons, Game and Millets all closed following their administrations, whilst Thorntons and Stead & Simpson currently have store closing signs up. All while the council is introducing overnight and Sunday parking charges, and plans appear to be slowly developing for more out of town shopping, possibly includinh Aldi and Home Bargains.

You have to wonder if the future of the high street is cheap high volume product.

My worry is, by focusing on this lower end of the market are our city centers going to become more associated with “cheap and nasty” thus driving away the big spenders and encouraging the middle classes into retail parks or online?!

[…] is remarkably similar to other 1930s Woolworths that I’ve blogged about before, such as the store from a few years earlier in Cirencester or the one not far from here in Bishop Auckland. Former Woolworths (now BrightHouse), Fleetwood […]

Woolworths… from the archives

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Soult's Retail View is a blog by me, Graham Soult, taking a wide-ranging look at the UK retail industry. I'm a retail consultant based in Gateshead - and the person behind CannyInsights.com and CannySites.com - so my posts often (but not always) have a North East flavour. [read more]

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